Description

What do you do when work feels unfulfilling, meaningful creative projects are calling you, but you still have to pay the mortgage? How do you nurture the seed of an idea and test whether it can grow into a viable regenerative business concept?

This was the Sticking Point I explored with Harrie, in person, by a stream in my local woodland. Harrie came to me at a turning point, with a contract coming to an end and a series of great-on-paper jobs leaving her unfulfilled. She was yearning for more human interaction, greater immersion in nature, and a connection to her love of local projects—specifically sustainable land-workers. What Harrie lacked was the confidence and clarity to take those first steps.

Together, we worked through these uncertainties, helping Harrie gain the clarity and confidence she needed to take her first steps.

In our coaching conversation, we explore:

• Removing financial pressure from the early stages of a creative, regenerative project.

• Breaking down an ambitious project into manageable steps that bring you joy.

• The importance of believing in your idea and reminding yourself of the difference you want to make in the world.
  

This episode is for you if you’re ready to reconnect with your creativity, pursue those “impossible” ideas, and build the foundations for a regenerative business.

Come and sit by the stream with us, listen to the flowing water, and immerse yourself in the woodland and this inspirational conversation.

Feeling stuck on your regenerative journey? Book your Regenerative Sticking Point Session today—it's amazing what we can unlock in just 30 minutes. Visit: regenerativeworklife.com/stickingpoint

Next steps:

Book a Discovery Call to learn more about Regenerative Career Coaching

Subscribe to my email for weekly guidance to help you quit corporate and build a successful regenerative career.

Read the Blog: https://www.regenerativeworklife.com/podcast/can-i-pursue-creative-community-projects-while-still-paying-the-mortgage

Visit the website: https://www.regenerativeworklife.com/

Listen to related episodes:

EP10: Three Easy Ways to Make Money While Pursuing Your Regenerative Career

EP4: The Internal Work of a Regenerative Career Transition (Interview with Ryan James, Pt 1)

EP2: How to build financial resilience in a heart-led business (Regenerative Unsticking Point with Julia)

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Transcription

• Speaker #0

  Hello, welcome back to the podcast. Today I'm excited to share with you a special regenerative sticking point episode that was recorded by a stream in my local woodland. My guest Harry and I explore how to pursue a creative regenerative project while still paying the mortgage. We talk about the importance of taking things one small joyful step at a time, the power of starting with why and how to shift from thinking about a project to actually doing it. Together we map out a plan to take Harry's concept of photography-based storytelling for local land workers and turn that into a reality. Now wherever you are in the world, whatever stage of your regenerative career journey you are in, you are so welcome to come on the podcast and work through your sticking point with me, just like you're going to hear Harry doing today. Maybe you're struggling on how to narrow down your many interests and choose a focus for your career. Maybe you know exactly what you want to pursue but you just don't seem to be able to take action on it. Or perhaps you're simply stuck on the financial piece and can't see past how you're going to make the money work. Whatever your regenerative sticking point, I am here to help you. Go to regenerativeworklife.com forward slash sticking point and choose a time that suits you. We're going to do 30 minutes of coaching together and you'll be amazed at how much you can unlock in that time. You'll leave the session with actionable steps and a clearer roadmap for your regenerative career. And you'll help other listeners who can learn from your experience as they listen to the podcast. So don't overthink this. Go to regenerativeworklife.com forward slash sticking point and book your free on-air session right now.

• Speaker #1

  hello and welcome to another regenerative unsticking point episode today i am joined by harry who is not only from the uk but from the same part of the uk as me so we are in fact as you can probably hear out in nature today and we are going to do today's coaching here in the woods by the stream which is a bit of an experiment and a special treat so harry welcome to the podcast thanks for having me So why don't you go ahead and tell us about your sticking point and how we can help you today.

• Speaker #2

  So I've worked in a variety of jobs over the last 10 years and I've always had a kind of contract job that you know provides me with kind of safety net of having a pension and all these good things like sick pay and I felt quite unfulfilled in these jobs even though on paper they've been interesting and I guess so yeah good and charitable and all this stuff and I would kind of like to explore how I could start my own project and maybe what focus on what what my yeah I have a few ideas but I'm not really sure what would what would suit me best perhaps so maybe exploring that okay

• Speaker #1

  so it sounds like you're a bit of a kind of point of change with your contract ending and you've got some different options some different ideas ahead of you and it's just narrowing in on what's going to be the right choice for you yeah okay so when you when we have a question like that in terms of you know what what route should i take what option is best i think it's a really good starting point to think about some parameters so When you say what will be best for me, what are the kind of factors that you're thinking of?

• Speaker #2

  I currently have a desk-based role, which I don't mind in moderation, but I find it quite difficult to concentrate the whole time. So I'd like to choose something that's a bit more interactive. I sit in my office all day alone, so it would be good to... interact with the community and I would like to be more embedded in the community and and yeah be a bit more kind of hands-on though I do I like the kind of flexibility of yeah having computer work office work but also being outside and yeah being in nature when I can be so a bit more of a hybrid style

• Speaker #1

  I suppose so something that's more deeply embedded in computer in community something that has more of a sort of human interaction than you're having now and perhaps you still want the flexibility that you have with your desk based role but something gives you the opportunity to be a bit more hands-on and immersed in nature yeah Okay. So give me an idea of, let's imagine that we've met up here in the woods and it's six months from now. So today is a beautiful, warm, sunny day. Let's imagine it's going to be sort of a crisp wintry day with some frost on the leaves around us. Where do you want to be in the six months time? And actually, let me just clarify a little bit. I'm not looking for sort of concrete details, but... Can you give me some of the sort of ingredients that you would like to have in your life in six months time?

• Speaker #2

  So I'd like to work somehow with land workers, so people who are small-scale farmers or have livestock and who are kind of doing things that are good for our planet and have a conservation focus, like conservation grazing or you know all the different things and I'd like to... I'd like my role to be quite creative and involve photography in some way and showcasing these different local change makers who aren't platformed and are often you know underrepresented so yeah something along these lines so six months is quite soon.

• Speaker #1

  But it sounds like you you know I know you sort of started by saying like I don't know when you were first talking it seemed like quite a sort of blank sheet of paper but it sounds like you do have some quite tangible ideas of what ingredients you want to go into this I was kind of I really my sort of ears pricked up when you mentioned photography because that's kind of quite an unusual element to bring in and you know you want it to be local and you know helping to promote these local change workers do you have a sense of how this might start to come together or does that feel like a puzzle you aren't able to piece together quite yet um so I've recently started like

• Speaker #2

  a small whatsapp group with people who are doing things locally and i'm quite clued in with land workers locally um but the photography element is you know to do with social media really because but there's like some really visually sounding beautiful examples locally that i just think would be so important to capture so i mean recently um i bumped into a farmer in brightling sea who farms buffalo on the marshes and he uses the marshes he uses the buffalo to clear this invasive species on the marsh and just I can't even fathom what that would look like but I know it'd be really beautiful to capture and you know I know people who've just started up market gardens who run flower farms who are kind of who haven't been born into farming or in like heritage land but are really giving it their best shot because they know it's important and it's kind of what keeps them growing so I think Visually it's really important to capture what they're doing but I also kind of have the conservation background and an understanding of agriculture from my work that can help kind of maybe explain why people are doing things in a certain way and why it's good to let buffalo walk on marshes. But yeah kind of wanting to like translate why these people are doing these things into kind of very snapshot-y like bite-sized. pieces for people to kind of understand what's going on locally and have a better appreciation for local food and produce this is one idea which is perfect yeah i mean but do you hear like it's it's a pretty fully formed idea so

• Speaker #1

  i'm curious what because it seems like you really i mean you're clearly really passionate about this you already said you have skills already that you're going to be able to bring to this you're making the connections with those land workers what what is getting in your way of moving forward with this concept um confidence in my knowledge and abilities um and i

• Speaker #2

  guess kind of the first steps uh always hard to take but i i think financially as well well like work knowing how this would become something i can do while having a mortgage Yeah, so it's the financial side of things and not thought out. And I'm not a really, not a business person by nature.

• Speaker #1

  Okay, well, I mean, I think those kind of fears that you've expressed are the most common things that I hear when someone has a sort of a regenerative yearning or concept that they want to bring to life or a path that they want to follow. The most common things that I hear are either that people think they don't have the right skills and experience. or they just don't know how they're going to make the money piece work. So I think you're in good company. This is usual stuff to be feeling at this point. Let's start with... the piece around skills and experience because you mentioned you do have an agricultural background so are there particular elements where you feel like oh I'm just I really don't know don't know how to do this or not sure I'm qualified to do that I think it's more a communication issue sometimes um

• Speaker #2

  so I'm not sure I'm the most personable person to be going and meeting these farmers but I feel like it's maybe a collaborative thing I can do with other people who have these skills

• Speaker #1

  um yeah so that answers the question yeah so so making so making the connections themselves feels like a challenge um

• Speaker #2

  I mean I guess like I kind of broadly have some but um I guess also communicating people with people my idea and making it worthwhile for them to take half a day out of their busy day to talk to me about their work and um I suppose you

• Speaker #1

  I suppose that um yeah yeah well so let's let's let's focus in on that what is in it for them to take that half day out um

• Speaker #2

  I mean if uh I mean opportunities to showcase their work but they're free I mean does it have to be anything more than that no I suppose not yeah there's um yeah that's that's about it really I suppose and on the agro

• Speaker #1

  cultural side do you do you feel like there's an imperative for you to have a depth of knowledge in order to be able to have these conversations

• Speaker #2

  I feel like I have quite like a sufficient knowledge of a lot of things I mean I used to work in market gardening um and I've grown flowers before and you know run small farms but I've you know I've never worked in livestock for example I I have like a basic understanding of some of the work that my friends do with cows and sub-breed for example like on the marshes it makes sense and I feel like it's a quite it is yeah I feel like I have enough knowledge to bring up and understand the concepts that they're trying to translate to me and I think I can capture it in a way that is easily digestible to someone who might not know anything about the subject

• Speaker #1

  so I'll be really I'll be really straight with you when you describe this I'm like what what's in the way here because the concept seems really fully formed the you know you said you might struggle to share your idea with other people but you've just done that beautifully with us it's completely clear to me it seems quite unique proposition you've already made some connections you know you like you say you have enough of the sort of understanding the language to be able to sort of begin these conversations I'm wondering what would it look like just to begin?

• Speaker #2

  I mean I guess I can just start with the social media and talking to a few people to like get a few people under my belt and try and communicate what I want to get from working with them I think yeah my biggest hurdle is just the first steps

• Speaker #1

  and confidence and um yeah not wanting to waste people's time yeah and you know all that is is really valid and you might find that some of those issues around you know where you're not feeling as confident as and secure as you would like that that diminishes when you actually start taking those first steps you So why don't we look at that? What would it look like if right now we're not thinking of how you turn this into a business or how you scale this, just how you begin to tell these stories, what would the very first steps look like?

• Speaker #2

  Mapping, like who I know and where they are and figuring out kind of what questions or what themes or what I want to, what themes I want to reveal from talking with them like I want to talk about how these are quite simple obvious solutions to our climate crisis so I guess yeah having some questions that I've thought out going and meeting a few people without even considering this idea thoroughly and just kind of walking around with them on their site and yeah seeing how that feels yeah I wonder if you could almost think of it as like a pilot project at this point

• Speaker #1

  Like the way you're describing makes me kind of think of if I were putting together a very early stage business plan, that it's really just about kind of. proving viability to use very kind of commercial language but it's really like to prove to yourself that this is something you know because right now you're you're grappling with questions of is this something I could go full time in like can I do this and still pay the mortgage like what's my next best choice when it comes to when this contract finishes but it seems to me like maybe there's a step before that which is just about can you test this out give it a try put some of it into practice and then use that learning to then make these decisions because obviously the idea is powerful for you and powerful enough for you that you've given it a lot of thought and it's really started to take shape I think the next stage might be just to kind of test it out yeah a little bit

• Speaker #2

  I think that my thoughts are quite easy to like run away and I've already thought about how I might photograph this buffalo on a marsh I haven't yeah it's kind of the first steps are you

• Speaker #1

  Right, and that's the passion piece and that's really important, right? Because that's your vision for it. And when you, you know, in some ways, that kind of mental image that I imagine you have of that buffalo in the marsh is what's going to kind of inspire you to then put in this work. But it sounds like there are some kind of concrete steps that you could take, like you've just outlined of like, right, can I map down what are the projects that I'm aware of right now? And who would I be speaking to at those projects? what might be the sort of basic format when I do this? How much time am I asking from someone? And also a question that came up for me is like, are you clear on who the audience is for these stories?

• Speaker #2

  I would like them to be like local people who are green-minded and are concerned about climate change. And we know that like 80% of the population are. But... I guess a broad audience of local people who have seen the local farmers market and thought oh that looks interesting but why on earth would I pay that much money and I guess it's kind of putting a story behind some of these brands that are local and yeah amplifying the work that they do because working in land work is incredibly lonely um you often don't talk to people for days um So I think for the land workers to actually be able to voice what they're thinking about every day and what their concerns are and why they do this for their livelihood. That's what I want to communicate with people and people to feel emotional connection to that and the land and the place that they live.

• Speaker #1

  I mean, that's your why right there. You know, that is. I'm sure you've heard the concept of starting with why it's, you know, that people. We spend a lot of time thinking about what is it you do, how are you going to do it, but actually what people are really connected with is the why behind what you do. And I think when you're really clear on that, as you are, because you articulate it really powerfully, when you come back to that, all of those kind of details that right now feel like they're in the way for you, they don't carry so much weight and they certainly won't for the people that you're... connecting with when you really understand why you want to go and speak to that farmer and and why you want to photograph the buffalo that is going to come across to those the people that you're asking to take part in this and it's going to come across to the people who you're sharing the stories with so let's come back to those first steps you said mapping it out so let's start with with mapping it out is that something that you feel like you can actually just go and do or do you have more questions about that part.

• Speaker #2

  I think that mapping works well because I'm very visual and yeah making it kind of like a creative exercise definitely yeah entertain my brain.

• Speaker #1

  Great okay and let's go even more specific because I think that first action points are such an underestimated part of when we want to make these kind of big changes or big new ventures in our lives is that it's so easy to sort of assume that that first action piece. will just happen but that's often where people get really stuck so I like to get really specific on the details of this so when you think of it as a creative project can you kind of paint me a picture of where you might do this work um what kind of setup you might have when

• Speaker #2

  I was younger I always used to like do my creative work in the evening and like a night owl so on the floor in my living room probably with stuff spread out on the floor um great yeah

• Speaker #1

  Yeah, on the floor in the evening, some creative materials kind of scattered around like my own.

• Speaker #2

  Yeah. And then I kind of put it all in one sheet of paper and piece it all together.

• Speaker #1

  Great. How does that feel thinking of doing that?

• Speaker #2

  Yeah, it feels like quite a joyful idea. Something I don't do enough of at the moment. Creative. Creative is me, basically.

• Speaker #1

  I think the joy is a great clue to follow the joy. And when you've got your map, one of the other things that you talked about was kind of making some first connections. So we've mentioned the buffalo several times. Does that feel like a good starting place, that particular project?

• Speaker #2

  Maybe not because I don't actually know him as well as other people. So I probably start with four or five people I actually know very well, just for my comfort level, who are also doing lovely things. Maybe not as picturesque, but yeah. A friend has started a market garden up the road and is really in tune with his land. It's an orchard, like a huge orchard. He's got this pocket of land and he's just started a community supported agriculture. And then I've also got a friend who's doing brilliant stuff with conservation grazing along a meadow. And he's recently found this flower that hasn't been seen on this meadow for like 100 years because of the way he's been managing it. So, I mean, I start with people I know very well, just my own confidence.

• Speaker #1

  And do you feel like you could already reach out to these people?

• Speaker #2

  people and have you have you shared this idea with any of them yet no okay so what would it take you to do that I think I'd want to kind of write up a brief so I've got all my ideas on a page um and then

• Speaker #1

  kind of condense that and and message them individually just to come and visit yeah okay so we've got kind of three concrete action steps so doing your mapping on the living room floor writing up this brief that's going to be something that you're going to share with people and then obviously sending that out to them to go and make those visits yeah how does that feel as a plan it feels doable um and it feels like something I could try

• Speaker #2

  doing on my half day off a week um so within my current work I've been I can probably prioritize doing this And yet it feels nice to have an idea for a project that's completely mine rather than working for someone else or always doing someone else's ideas.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah and I think that kind of brings us quite nicely to because you mentioned you know the financial piece and how do you kind of pursue these passion projects when you have to pay a mortgage which is you know very very often the case for most people in this position that's that's the sort of challenge that they're trying to to meet and I think the way that you're approaching it is exactly how I would recommend is that you don't you know don't start out by putting the pressure on onto this passion project of needing to provide financially I absolutely believe that that could come with time or that could lead to new ideas or new opportunities that can be something that supports you financially but I think right now if you can set things up in a way that this is you know something that you do alongside you a job that you know is kind of paying the bills then that's really going to allow you to immerse yourself in it without kind of keeping coming back to that you know because you're always going to have that some dialogue in your head of like oh this is all very well but you know am I going to make any money from it so if it if this is something that you can get started up with now I think you mentioned your contract finishes in March yeah you know so you've got a little bit of time there while you've still got that contract and You can see how it develops. You can see, you know, come March, is it the right choice to take another contract? But even if you do, perhaps you can prioritise making sure that there is space for this project. You know, so once this is a bit more fleshed out in a few months'time, you might know, OK, but I need two days a week for this project. And then I've got three days that I can do on a different contract.

• Speaker #2

  Yeah.

• Speaker #1

  Does that make sense?

• Speaker #2

  Yeah it does and I think my learning curve, no what's the word, my take-home learning message from my current role is that I really don't work well doing a full-time job and I don't think anyone does so I can condense my hours or do something that's more part-time next time that would definitely suits me better.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah and that's really good information and that will give you the focus that yeah not only does it suit you better but it's going to allow you to explore other creative pursuits. yeah exactly so tell me like bring all this together for me how is how is it feeling do you have any sort of doubts that are surfacing as you're talking this through um it feels

• Speaker #2

  No, it feels pretty exciting. I think I get carried away with ideas, so it's nice to kind of take it back and figure out the first steps. But yeah, it does really feel like kind of a nice kind of amalgamation of all the different projects I've done throughout my life. It has a lot of diversity and location and place and people, so that will keep my interest sparked, I think.

• Speaker #1

  A lot of those ingredients that you were looking for. exactly yeah one thing I wanted to mention when you said about getting carried away with ideas and how it feels nice to sort of come back and focus on first steps is that I think the more specific and small you can be with those steps the more success you will find so that's why I sort of had you paint that picture of I'm going to be you know on the living room floor it's going to be spread out all around me and the kind of creative chaos that's really important because you already sort of have you know you can visualize how you're going to do it. But I would even say go one step further. You don't need to do this right now, but later on after our talk, think about specifically when am I going to sit down and do that? Set yourself a time. So if it's your next half day off from work or some time at weekend, just get really, really specific. And it might even be, actually, I don't have all the materials. I'm going to go to the art shop and get some big pieces of paper. Just really work back to like, what is the very tiny next step?

• Speaker #2

  And we'll make it easy to make these little steps as well.

• Speaker #1

  That's exactly it. Because, I mean, I'm amazed how often people get caught up on just that, you know, the tiniest step and offer. And it's like, okay, I need to like Google it, or I need to just get that book off my shelf, or I need to pick up the phone and speak to this person. And it's those little steps forward that all add up and then really get us moving forward with these ideas.

• Speaker #2

  Yeah, I feel like I often get caught on the name of the book.

• Speaker #1

  the project which is like the least important thing probably yeah yeah and that's okay because it's an enjoyable process right to think about that doesn't need to hold you back exactly so can you share with us one action that you're going to take after today and one sort of thought or realization that you want to hold on to I'm going to start with just kind of word vomiting onto a

• Speaker #2

  document and getting all my ideas out I don't know what is you the drive what is what's the word you use the why the why um yeah that's a great place to start like articulating that why because I guess that's quite hard to find sometimes if it is you know you're using your own time and sometimes it's not always as glamorous what your project is but yeah it's good to have that why so having that written down um and I guess kind of following my my take-home thing is creativity really appeals to me so really following that and embedding that into the way I work it's probably a good way to go forward yeah and that can actually be

• Speaker #1

  I I really like to think about how we choose the things that are going to guide us I mentioned joy before and for me that's always the kind of signpost that you're heading in the right direction if something is bringing you joy and I think you can find your own signpost it sounds like creativity is one of them those signposts so even when you're taking those little baby steps any opportunity you have for creativity is probably a great indication that you're heading in the right direction well um harry thank you for joining me here in the woods on this beautiful summer day and for sharing your story with us thank you for having me

• Speaker #0

  Really hope you enjoyed this coaching episode with Harry and being out in the woods with us. Some key takeaways for me were that, number one, please don't ask your regenerative pursuits to pay the bills for you from day one. You need to be free to explore and create that new career without the pressure. Listen to episode 10 for three easy ways that you can make money while you pursue your regenerative career. Second takeaway, focus on small, small steps. That's how you bring an idea or vision to life. Look, you have to take action. It doesn't serve anyone staying stuck in your head. Three, believe in yourself. Harry and I recorded this episode a little while back in the summer and as I was listening to it again for editing, I was so struck by the power of her idea. of how important it is to tell stories of how we can feed ourselves sustainably, of how we can restore the land around you. I wanted to learn about the projects Harry will be documenting. I know it can be hard to have faith that your idea or project has value. It's a real leap of faith. But just know that there are people out there, species out there, life out there that is waiting for you to start. Go and make that start right now. And if you're stuck on that, then your beginning is to go to regenerativeworklife.com forward slash sticking point and book your free coaching session with me today so that we can map this out together.

• Speaker #1

  Thank you for listening to the Regenerative Work Life podcast. It's time to put what you learned today into practice. Remember, you were called to this work for good reason. Nature needs each and every one of us and you can do this. If today's episode has been helpful, please take the time to share it with someone who needs a little guidance in stepping out of corporate and into regenerative. Learn more about how I can help you find your vision for a work life filled with purpose, impact and joy at regenerativeworklife.com and connect with me on LinkedIn. Just search Alyssa Murphy. I'll see you back here soon for the next episode.